MacTech News

12:07

Solar Media Player combines a speaker with a charging case

Secur Products has released the US$49.99 Solar Media Player (www.securproducts.com), a zippered speaker with a built-in solar panel, to protect and charge phones in any outdoor situation without missing a beat.

To use you unzip the Solar Media Player, connect a phone or MP3 player, zip it closed and the Solar Media Player will simultaneously function as a speaker and solar phone charger. It's rainproof, dust proof and shock proof. Once a smartphone or MP3 player is safely stowed inside, it will be protected from the elements and accidents.

The 7.28 inch by 3.74 inch by 1.77 inch Solar Media Player is large enough to hold most smartphones including the iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S5. It features two 3-watt stereo speakers, a built in 2000 mAh power bank and a 5.5V solar panel.

When a phone is connected to the Solar Media Player it can draw power from the power bank, or the solar panel can...

Applied Acoustics Systems (www.applied-acoustics.com) has released the Raw sound bank for the Ultra Analog VA-2 synthesizer and AAS Player plug-ins in collaboration with artist and sound designer Andre Ettema.

This collection of 100 signature presets is divided into six categories: Bass, Effect, Keys, Leads, Movers, and Pads. The regular price is US$39. However, until March 17, the Raw sound bank is available at the special introductory price of US$29.

The instant download delivery package includes both a Ultra Analog VA-2 bank file and the free AAS Player plug-in. The AAS Player plug-in runs on both Mac OS X and Windows systems and supports the VST, Audio Units, AAX Native, and RTAS plug-in formats.

Red Giant has announced a new Volume Licensing Program (VLP) for its lineup of plug-in suites, designed to meet the demands of larger organizations. Targeted to customers who require 10 or more floating licenses, the Volume Licensing Program is designed to remove the tedium of software deployment and management.

The Volume Licensing Program includes the option to buy an annual subscription to Trapcode Suite, Magic Bullet Suite, Shooter Suite, Effects Suite and Keying Suite. Customers can also buy an annual subscription to the Red Giant Complete Suite, which contains all of the suites at a discounted price. To learn more about Red Giant’s new Volume Licensing Program, go to http://tinyurl.com/kocqt34 .

The program uses a floating license server model called Reprise License Manager (RLM) for easy management. With RLM, Red Giant volume customers requiring 10 or more seats can now “check out”...

IBM researchers have created a new tool for iOS and Android mobile applications expected to potentially benefit as many as one billion people with disabilities worldwide, including those who are vision and hearing impaired, as well as the elderly. The new Mobile Accessibility Checker (http://tinyurl.com/qccdd37) is an automated test to help strengthen the accessibility features of mobile applications, says Frances West, IBM's chief accessibility officer.

"Our researchers saw an opportunity to address this by inventing technology that identifies and corrects usability issues early in the software development process," West says. "This makes mobile apps easier to use for people with disabilities, helps developers save on costs and satisfy compliance requirements, and drives greater inclusivity in our communities through mobile technology."

Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) has joined the growing ranks of financial institutions that now brings Apple Pay. It's offering the Apple payment service to all its PenFed Visa credit and debit cardholders and American Express Cardmembers.

Now, any of PenFed's Visa and American Express cardholders may now have the ability to add those cards to Apple Pay. By making the service available to cardholders, "they get to enjoy the best in the latest mobile device trends, combined with some of the best cards available in the industry," says Kevyn Myers, executive vice president and chief operating officer with PenFed.

What makes Apple Pay a serious consideration for mobile device users is the amount of retail partners the platform now has, he adds. New stores are increasingly being added. Besides the Apple Store, a PenFed cardholder can use Apple Pay at many brick-and-mortar retail locations or within participating apps.

Worldwide sales of smartphones to end users had a record fourth quarter of 2014 with an increase of 29.9% from the fourth quarter of 2013 to reach 367.5 million units, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com) Samsung lost the No. 1 spot to Apple in the global smartphone market in the fourth quarter of 2014. Samsung had been in the top spot since 2011.

Apple reported its best quarter ever in the fourth quarter of 2014, which saw it sell 74.8 million units and move to the No. 1 position in the global smartphone market. Apple's first ever large-screen phones continued to see huge demand with sales in China and U.S., growing at 56% and 88%, respectively.

Apple's strong ecosystem and its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus drove strong replacements within the iOS base, according to Garner. These new smartphones also offered new users, who are looking for larger screen phones, a strong alternative to Android. ...

SmartBear Software has created the SmartBear Developer Network (SDN) for its community of users and partners to freely build integrations and plugins to further extend the functionality of the company’s software quality tools.

Customers and partners can build plugins and extensions for most SmartBear products, starting with any of the Ready! API [application programming interface] family of tools, to meet their specific needs. The SDN provides an opportunity for the SmartBear community to collaborate on projects, share ideas and the plugins themselves, says Lorinda Brandon, technical evangelist, API Products at SmartBear.

SmartBear has already collaborated with several API product companies, including 3scale, Apiary, IBM, Mashery, an Intel Company, MuleSoft and Swagger, among others, and expects to add more. Various plugins are currently available on the SDN including RAML, Groovy Console, SSL Workaround for REST Discovery, Apiary's API Blueprint, APIs from 3scale,...

Zevrix Solutions (www.zevrix.com) has announced Package Central 1.9, a feature update to its file packaging automation solution for Adobe InDesign.

Package Central automates InDesign document collection by processing files from hot folders. The software offloads file packaging to a central system leaving operator workstations free from the collection process. Version 1.9 introduces a new email notification engine with support for SSL connection security and improved performance on OS X Yosemite.

Package Central can be purchased for US$299.95 from the Zevrix website, as well as from authorized resellers. A demo is available for download. Package Central requires Mac OS X 10.6-10.10 and Adobe InDesign CS4-CC 2014.

Autodesk is previewing its new Stingray Game Engine this week at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. The company is also launching Autodesk Maya LT 2016, the latest release of its 3D animation and modeling software for professional indie game developers.

Built using the core technology behind the Bitsquid engine acquired last summer, Stingray is currently in development and comprises intuitive, powerful tools that make it easier for professional and novice developers to bring graphically advanced games to market on a wide range of platforms, says Martin Wahlund, CEO of Fatshark, which is using the new Stingray engine to build their upcoming Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide game.

The technical preview at GDC will highlight several core areas of focus that make it easier for game makers of every level create the next generation of blockbusters., according to the folks at Autodesk. The company will give a live demonstration of several key advances...

Flying Pig (http://flyingpigcorp.com) has released an update of the whole Edouard Universe. Edouard 2.0, Edouard Warehouse 2.0 and Edouard POS 2.0 are now available and 100% cloud based solutions.

The 2.0 version brings major changes to the Edouard universe. Following a registration from the OS X app, users can quickly access their dedicated cloud. These instances are reportedly accessed securely and remotely from anywhere in the world from all of your Edouard client applications.

Edouard is also now cheaper. Subscriptions start at US$29) per slot per month compared to $99 previously. The previously used metric of the connection slot is preserved. As a reminder, connection slots are active connections to the server regardless of the number of user accounts.

Edouard 2.0 also brings other improvements. Among those, users will enjoy new import schemes, new inventory management tools, a new...

MASA Group (www.masagroup.com), providers of Artificial Intelligence, will use the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) to demonstrate version 1.10 of its AI technology, LIFE.

LIFE enables the authoring and execution of a range of autonomous behaviors for NPCs (Non-Player Characters) in any games or simulations, leveraging decision, spatial reasoning and navigation modules, extensively validated in military 3D simulations.

LIFE is designed for both designers and developers. It's available as a pre-integrated plug-in for Unity 5 and VBS3, the simulation version of ArmA III.

The integration of LIFE with other game engines is done via a software development kit included in the design to ensure optimal ease of use. It has an editor designed for teamwork and created behaviors that can be handled as any other assets.

Spike Software (http://www.spikesoft.net) has announced Audio Switcher 2.5.3, an update to its menubar applet utility for Mac OS X.

Audio Switcher allows you to switch your audio input and output between different audio devices. It supports a range of devices, as well as the built-in audio hardware of your Mac desktop or laptop. Version 2.5.3 adds a preference where the audio device's manufacturer's name can appear in the menu.

Audio Switcher requires Mac OS X 10.7 or later. Version 2.5.3 costs US$4.99 and is available worldwide through the Mac App Store in the Utilities category. Current users can receive the free update via the Mac Store.

Entropy, a mobile innovations company based in the United Kingdom, used the 2015 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to announce the launch of the new free-to-use mobile app CMS, Remarkable.

As “the first CMS built specifically for the post-PC era,” Remarkable enables anyone with a native mobile app to take full creative control of their product, according to Entropy CEO Eddie Vassallo. He introduced the full beta launch of the Remarkable mobile management solution at the Mobile World Congress. Anyone can sign up and manage their first app for free.

"Since our soft-launch in October, we have been absolutely inundated with demo requests for the Remarkable system," says Vassallo. "At Mobile World Congress, we were extremely excited to formally announce the release of our new free-to-use Tier - allowing people to not only demo Remarkable, but to begin using it in their live native mobile apps for free. We’re confident that once developers and content owners see how easy...

Zevrix Solutions (www.zevrix.com) has announced Deliver Express 2.4.6, a maintenance update to its solution to automatically send files across the Internet and locally from watched hot folders.

Deliver Express can serve multiple users on a network, offers automatic variable email notifications, and supports FTP, Amazon S3, WebDAV, Google Storage, AFP, SMB and other services. The new version fixes an issue in which automatic date-based subfolders could not be created on SFTP servers.

Deliver Express' license prices are based on the maximum number of allowed destinations and range from US$29.95 to $299.95. The update is free for licensed users. A demo is available for download. Deliver Express requires Mac OS X 10.5 or higher.

The app recognizes selected text, Clipboard, files, and webpages as data sources. From these sources it extracts seven data types for names, email addresses, phone numbers, postal addresses, urls, dates, and a user supplied custom regex. Designed to empower Mac users to leverage data as they encounter it, Wordaux can be used by sales executives, students doing research, or just the generally curious.

Examples of usage include: creating contacts from spreadsheet data, augmenting existing spreadsheets with web data, building a note base for research papers, and following up on interesting articles found while surfing the web.The extracted data is presented in standard OS X tables and Wordaux provides immediate drag-ability. With the exception of the Clipboard, all data...

RealVNC (www.realvnc.com) has released its flagship VNC product for the Raspberry Pi, enabling users to connect to their Pi from any Mac, Windows, or Linux computer.

Once VNC has been downloaded to the Pi users can apply a free license or, for an enhanced set of features, a personal or enterprise license. Raspberry Pi users will also be able to connect to their Pi from an iPad, iPhone, Android or Chrome device by downloading RealVNC’s free VNC Viewer app, which is available in the Apple App Store, Google Play or the Chrome web store.

VNC can be used with Raspberry Pi in two ways. If the Raspberry Pi is connected to a monitor or TV and is running a graphical desktop, the connected user can see exactly what a user sitting in front of the Pi would see. If the Pi isn't running a graphical desktop, then graphical remote access can still be obtained by creating a virtual desktop instead.

Wan Ahmad Lutfi has released QuartzCode 1.2, an update to his code generation tool for Mac OS X.

It's a lightweight animation tool that turns vector drawing and animation into Objective C and Swift code, bridging the gap between developer, designer and animator. Version 1.2 introduces a new unified timeline panel, which now show animations from all layers, instead of only one layer.

QuartzCode requires OS X 10.9 or later. Version 1.2 is available as a free update to existing QuartzCode customers. New customers can purchase QuartzCode 1.2 on the Mac App Store and Bijokmind store (http://www.quartzcodeapp.com) for US$89.99.

Following a successful launch on the French speaking market, A-Shirt (https://a-shirt.club/) is launching in the English speaking market and is inviting all Apple fans to join the club, which specializes in Apple inspired t-shirts.

"Following the successful launch in the French speaking market last December, we are happy to invite all Apple addicts out there to join the A-Shirt Club," says co-founder Cyril Pavillard. "Its aim is to unite Apple fans from around the world on one platform and allow them to show their love for Apple products in a unique, sleek and stylish way."

A-shirt releases six series of t-shirts every year. Each series is created once and rolled out to A-Shirt members every two months.

A-Shirt offers two packages: "The Just Addicted Plan" and "The Mega Addicted Plan." The former is the regular package plan where members receive six t-shirts...

Surprise Attack Games and ThoughtShelter Games have announced that A Druid's Duel is now available on Steam ( http://store.steampowered.com/app/333970/) for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux systems. It's being offered at 20% off for a limited time: US$7.99 instead of the $9.99.

Here's how the game is described: "Welcome to the Realm of Six Seasons, where the predictable cycle of nature's seasons has turned constantly since time began. But now, something is wrong. Something (or someone) is tampering with the precious Seasons, making a complete mess of the Realm.

"The Druids of the Esoteric Orders have long fostered this fertile landscape and tended to this delicate mystical balance. And it is up to Warren, a young druid fresh from his Esoteric Training, to discover what is causing this disastrous mixing of Seasons."

AKVIS (www.akvis.com) has announced a new frame pack for AKVIS ArtSuite. The program allows users to decorate their photos with frames and effects.

Extra frame packs can be installed to the program to increase its functionality. The new Pets Pack includes 60 frames targeted to animal lovers. You can frame photos of your pet with nature decorations, surround it by furry and feathered friends, by its favorite toys, food and treats.

The frame packs can only be used in the AKVIS ArtSuite Standalone program (with Home Standalone, Home Deluxe, Business licenses). A frame pack can be added to ArtSuite by placing the archive into a folder specified in the program's preferences.

AKVIS ArtSuite, with all its frame packs, runs on Mac OS X 10.6 and higher and Windows. It sells for US$69 (a demo is available for download); the price of the new frame pack is $15.

MacTech Blog

TechNavio (www.technavio.com), a tech-focused research firm, says the cloud security software market will see a compound annual growth rate of 48.46% from 2014-2019.

According to the new report, traditional on-site security software has a high total cost of ownership, as it includes high upfront software license and software implementation costs, coupled with high maintenance costs. Cloud security software circumvents these expenses, since cloud vendors are responsible for the implementation, maintenance, updates, and backup of software, thereby reducing the need for internal IT administration.

"Cloud security software eliminates connection-related expenditures because it is offered with a wide variety of connection options," says Faisal Ghaus, vice president of TechNavio.

The new TechNavio report also draws attention towards growing partnerships between cloud service providers (CSPs) and...

Managing identities and access is critical to the success of the Internet of Things (IoT), but in its current form identity and access management (IAM) cannot provide the scale or manage the complexity that the IoT brings to the enterprise, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).

"IAM leaders must reconsider how traditional approaches to cybersecurity and IAM work in a world where devices and services are so abundant, in so many different forms and positioned at so many different points within the IT ecosystem," sahs Earl Perkins, research vice president at Gartner.

The growth of the IoT means that IAM leaders of digital businesses require a way of defining and managing the identities of "entities" (people, services and things) within a single framework. The IoT is not only about the introduction of different forms of networked devices into digital business moments; it is a transformational approach to...

Data from 451 Research reveals that the worldwide datacenter install base grew at +0.2% Y/Y [year-over-year] in Q4 2014 to 4.3 million datacenters and IT sites. The weak demand for new facilities was primarily driven by a decline in traditional enterprise demand, particularly in mature markets, according to the research group.

This decline was offset by the booming demand for large premium and hyperscale facilities from cloud, service provider and multi-tenant datacenter vendors. While datacenters from those organizations are typically very large, from a datacenter count perspective they are still the minority, representing only 5% of the market combined when server closets and rooms are excluded.

From a square footage perspective, enterprises continue to control the vast majority of the worldwide market, at 83%. MTDC and cloud providers control 12% and 5%, respectively. That balance will continue to shift over time as enterprises invest less in their own datacenter...

LTE-Advanced networks have been actively deployed around the world. At the end of 2014, LTE-Advanced covered its first 100 million people worldwide, just 4 years since the network’s inception. ABI Research (www.abirsearch.com) predicts that the coverage will reach one billion in four more years.

At the end of 2014, there were 49 commercially available LTE-Advanced networks around the world. Western European operators lead the commercialization with 20 operators, followed by 13 in Asia-Pacific; however, North America still commands the largest population coverage at 7.8%.

"All four major operators of the United States have either commercially deployed (AT&T and Sprint) or have been actively deploying (Verizon and T-Mobile) their LTE-Advanced networks," comments Lian Jye Su, research associate of Core Forecasting, ABI Research.

The worldwide pay-TV market is expected to have grown 5% in 2014, surpassing 924.4 million subscribers, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

"IPTV is expected to grow a market leading 14% in 2014, followed by satellite TV platform at 7%. The growth rates of cable and terrestrial TV platforms are expected to slow to around 3%," comments Jake Saunders, vice president and practice director of Core Forecasting at the research group.

Global cable TV market growth is driven by the Asian-Pacific and Latin American markets. A combination of the two regions is likely to add over 13 million subscribers in 2014 while the cable TV market in North America is expected to decline approximately 1% in 2014. In 3Q 2014, major cable TV operators in North America lost over 400,000 TV customers, although cable companies are doing well in broadband.

Increased demand for gesture recognition solutions in the healthcare sector has resulted in the unprecedented growth of the global 2D gesture recognition market, which will post a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 32.12% from 2014-2019, says research firm TechNavio (www.technavio.com).

According to the latest report by the research group, gesture recognition in video games has enabled otherwise inactive individuals to participate in physical activity to a certain extent. These games are ideal for elderly people who should have a minimum amount of physical activity every day for their overall health. The TechNavio report also draws attention to the increasing demand for gesture-enabled electronic devices, which are being increasingly used for human-device interaction.

"Vendors are constantly upgrading gesture-enabled consumer electronics to make the interaction between devices and humans simpler and...

The worldwide personal and entry-level storage (PELS) shipments remained flat year over year in 2014, finishing the year with 75.7 million units, according to the IDC (www.idc.com) research group.

Annual shipment values were down -1.5% year over year to $6.6 billion. Unit shipments were down slightly in the fourth quarter (4Q14), declining -0.9% from a year ago to 20.5 million units, while 4Q14 shipment values were also down, declining -5.2% to $1.7 billion.

"The personal and entry-level storage market finished 2014 flat, despite strong growth during the previous quarter," says Jingwen Li, research analysts, Storage Systems, IDC. "The entry-level portion of the market showed consistent growth throughout the year, but it remains too small to drive growth for the entire market. The largest market segment, personal storage, fell victim to continued price declines, increased competition from public cloud providers, and...

A new report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) forecasts that smart city traffic management and parking projects will reduce cumulative global emissions in the order of 164 MMT (million metric tonnes) CO2 between 2014 and 2019, equivalent to the annual emissions produced by 35 million vehicles.

Not only will this benefit the environment, but it will also significantly impact the quality of city dwellers’ lives, with some 700 million automobiles projected to be on city roads by 2019, says the research group. The report found that high levels of city traffic congestion combined with advancements in the "Internet of Things" sensors and software solutions has driven plans to reduce high traffic levels through smart initiatives.

Juniper Research says the establishment of a sensor-networked and monitored city communications infrastructure, efficiently phasing traffic lights and...

The home care/lawn care robotics market will surpass US$2.9 billion by 2019, up from US$1.2 billion in 2014, according to a new study published by ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com). Approximately seven million robotic home care/lawn care products will be sold in 2019, up from 3.4 million in 2014, representing a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 15.6%, notes the research group.

"The home care/lawn care sector is the largest, fastest growing, and most dynamic component of the overall consumer robotics marketplace, and this will remain so for the foreseeable future," says Dan Kara, practice director, Robotics at ABI Research. "Moreover, the addressable markets for these devices are substantial, penetration levels are nowhere near saturation, and in some cases markets are virtually untouched. New advances in low-cost, highly functional, consumer class enabling technology, coupled with greater levels of...

Overall revenues for the biometrics market are forecasted to hit US$13.8 million in 2015, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com). The majority of revenues in most biometric recognition technologies are still stemming from governmental entities.

However, due to increased consumer acceptance of biometric modalities, consumer and enterprise segments are predicted to catch up with governmental spending in late 2017, thus becoming the dominant portion of the market, says ABI Research. Recent events will no doubt increase governmental spending in 2015 as security measures are intensified in Europe and the U.S., adds the research group.

Government spending on biometrics is increasing worldwide and will continue to do so up until late 2016-early 2017 with growing terrorist threats in European Union (E.U.) and U.S. intensifying this effect. Fingerprint recognition is the most commonly used.

Reviews and Kool Tools

Vandaurico's VizMac is a Visio viewer for OS X (10.6 or higher) that allows anyone to view, save and print Visio drawings and diagrams on their Mac.
The utility enables users to discover the advantages of using Visio... Read more »

Push Popcorn's (http://pushpopcorn.com) Records 1.0 for Mac OS X is a personal database tool built around a WYSIWYG [what you see is what you get] Visual Editor. No prior database knowledge is required and you don't... Read more »

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Tuesday March 3

Steve was wicked smart. I was always amazed at how sharp he was and how quickly he could focus on what was important. I don’t know ANYONE that even comes close to how good he was at being able to do that.

Those who develop EPUBs are aware of how similar to a Web site an EPUB is, containing, as it does, XHTML and CSS files to present the ebook’s contents. Not many know, however, that Apple makes it possible to use OS X’s built-in Web Inspector to debug EPUBs. Derrick Schultz shows how developers can enable the Web Inspector in iBooks on the Mac so they can select text in an EPUB being proofed in iBooks and see the underlying XHTML and CSS underlying that text in the Web Inspector.

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related...

Eleven-year-old Jordyn Leopold misses her dad. NHL defenseman Jordan Leopold started the season with the Blues and was traded to the Blue Jackets in November. Jordyn and the rest of her family have been living in Minnesota, so she wrote a letter to the Wild asking them to trade for her dad.

Such a sweet story. And the daughter’s letter shows she knows more than a little bit about hockey.

Sonos is today rolling out version 5.3 of its Sonos Controller app for iOS to introduce a few new features and a tweaked user interface.

The feature being highlighted above others in the update is easier access to controlling the app’s Rooms feature: Effortlessly move your music around your home with a more accessible ROOMS menu available by tapping the top of any screen in the Sonos app. Group and ungroup rooms from the ROOMS menu to play music in perfect synchrony throughout your home.

Also new in the update is an updated user experience for iPad users that offers new, separate views for currently playing music and discovery features:

Pebble today introduced the Pebble Time Steel, a steel version of its recently announced Pebble Time smartwatch. The new Steel edition has a CNC-finished 316L stainless steel case with Gunmetal Black, Silver Stainless and Gold finishes. It will ship with band options of leather or stainless steel. The device also includes a larger battery that provides an advertised ten days of battery life. The Pebble Steel Time is available to pre-order via Pebble's Kickstarter page for $249, a $50 discount off the suggested retail price of $299. Customers who ordered the Pebble Time can upgrade to the Steel edition and still keep their place in line, though the Steel version won't ship until July.

Ahead of Apple’s ‘Spring forward’ event on Monday where we expect to hear much more about the Apple Watch, more than a dozen new banks and credit unions have added support for Apple Pay. The Apple Watch will support the mobile payment service and extend Apple Pay support in stores beyond the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus to the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, and iPhone 5s when paired. Following the addition of 17 new banks including credit unions for American Airlines and IBM today, Apple Pay is now supported by nearly 100 institutions. Here’s the list of newly added banks:
Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union...

You’d think putting three electric motors into a sportscar to generate a total of 697bhp would be pretty impressive in itself, as would a 1085bhp 5-litre V8 gas engine, but no: Koenigsegg had to combine the two. The exclusive Swedish supercar manufacturer’s new Regera hybrid delivers a total output of 1782bhp.

With all that power, it might be a little hard to hear the stereo over the engine noise and tire screeching, but Koenigsegg has fitted a CarPlay unit to the car for those times when you’re taking things a little easier …

As you’d expect from Koenigsegg, the Regera isn’t going to be cheap. They are making just 80...

Pebble clearly wasn't done with its new smartwatch announcements when it unveiled its Kickstarter for Pebble Time because now you can preorder Pebble Time Steel, too. The Steel version of Pebble Time comes with an all metal body instead of the Time's metal bezel on a plastic body, plus it sports longer batter life.

The Mac Observer Spin: Seeing people flip over Pebble Time and Pebble Steel doesn't necessarily mean the entire market has been holding out waiting for something besides the devices that are already shipping, but it does show that consumers who want certain brands are willing to buy without a second thought. That's a very good sign for Apple Watch when it goes on sale.

Late last year, accessory manufacturer ZAGG hit the market with a folding keyboard targeted at "phablets" like the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus as well as the larger Samsung smartphones. The US$69.99 ZAGG Pocket Keyboard received a lot of attention at CES 2015, and for good reason.

The brilliance of the ZAGG Pocket Keyboard is in the design. Many folding keyboards have chosen to fold from the sides to the center, meaning that the keyboard usually has a space in the center to accommodate a hinge mechanism and that it's still quite wide. For example, an iWerkz folding keyboard I have (see photo below for comparison) is almost 6 x 3.5...

A week after Pebble announced a color-screen version of its popular smartwatch, the Pebble Time, it has now announced a stainless steel model: the Pebble Time Steel. The metal version is available in silver, black and … gold finishes. Wonder where they got the inspiration for a gold finish with red strap?

The Time Steel will retail at $299–a hundred bucks more than the plastic original, but still $50 less than the plastic-strap model Apple Watch. It’s available on Kickstarter for an early bird price of $250 …

Pebble claims to have boosted the 7-day battery life of the Time to ten days, at the cost of an...

Pebble on Tuesday announced a steel version of its upcoming Pebble Time smartwatch, as well as a new expandable accessory port called "smartstrap" that could add functions such as GPS or heart rate monitoring.

Believe it or not, there’s an iPhone 6 in that pile of smartphones shown in the image above and we’re going to compare it to Samsung’s newly announced Galaxy S6. Which one would you prefer? More importantly, what are the major differences between these two devices? Well, let’s go ahead and find out…

Hey what’s up everyone this is Dom and today we’re comparing Samsung’s Galaxy S6 to Apple’s iPhone 6. These two devices are from completely different areas in the mobile space, but there are still some striking similarities between the two.

President Obama has publicly criticized China’s plans to expand ‘security’ policies that would effectively prevent U.S. tech companies like Apple selling their products in China without completely compromising data security.

Reuters reports that the Chinese government plans to require foreign tech companies to host in China all data servers used by their products, and to allow the government access to the data. As this would include iCloud backups, this would provide the Chinese government with complete access to all data stored on iPhones and iPads sold in China.

In an interview with Reuters, Obama said he was concerned about Beijing’s plans for a far-reaching counterterrorism law that would require technology firms...

It’s impossible to truly know how you’ll take to a device until you live with it for a while. That might be true for all gadgets—including smartphones—but especially so with wearables, which might be strapped to your wrist or affixed to clothing all day and night. It might function, but is it comfortable? Fashionable? Spending a couple minutes with a demo unit at a store isn’t the same as donning it for a full workday, taking it to the gym, and sleeping in your own bed with it.

Finding the right wearable can be a pricey endeavor. I learned that tiny Fitbit trackers probably aren’t for me when I “lost” one for several months—and later found it safely nestled in a rarely worn pair of jeans. My wife similarly hasn’t taken to easily overlooked clip-on fitness trackers: she just wants something that’s relatively inconspicuous, but won’t be regularly forgotten on her nightstand.

However much you love your Mac, I’m willing to bet there’s at least one hardware feature you want to add to it—and quite possibly one or two that you wouldn’t mind losing. On my trusty old 2008 MacBook Pro, for example, I wish I had a second video-out port for hooking up a third display, and I could live without the Ethernet port. You might think picking and chosing your features like this is a pipe dream, but in a sense it’s not a million miles away from what Apple used to offer with its PowerBooks.

When I got my PowerBook 1400c, it came with a (6×!) CD-ROM drive, which was obviously great for browsing CD-ROMs (Myst! Encarta! *cough* Duke Nukem!) and listening to music.

Monday March 2

Apple’s latest ad campaign, Shot on iPhone 6, is crowdsourced using iPhone photography from around the world. It is taking photos found online, typically seen in a browser window, and plastering them up in massive sizes out in the real world.

Apple found them by scouring online communities for photos that were tagged as having been taken with its newest iPhones.

Apple doesn't attend things like CES or this week's Mobile World Congress, at least not in an official capacity, but the company has a knack for sucking the wind of their PR sails. On Monday, Apple launched the iPhone 6 World Gallery, a collection of beautiful photographs all taken with the iPhone 6. The beautiful shot below was taken by Renee M. using Camera, Instagram, and Flickr apps. There are dozens more in the World Gallery, and they're worth your time.

After launching its "Shot on iPhone 6" ad campaign on Sunday, works from Apple's "World Gallery" are now showing up on billboards, static ad spaces and in magazines in far flung locales around the globe.

Rumor Scanner

Tuesday March 3

Apple has decided to hire the majority of its day-to-day security staff in Silicon valley as full-time employees, a company spokeswoman confirmed to the San Jose Mercury News. Many of the security guards that Apple has hired in the past as contractors will become part of the company's expanded in-house security team and receive the same benefits as other employees, including full health insurance, retirement contributions and a leave of absence for new parents.

Apple security guard in dispute with photographer at iPad event (via The Australian) Apple will continue using contractors as security guards for special events, such as the upcoming...

The latest numbers from research firm Gartner reveal that Apple surpassed Samsung in worldwide smartphone sales during the fourth quarter of 2014 to become the world's largest smartphone maker. Samsung lost the top spot to Apple for the first time since 2011.

Apple narrowly edged Samsung as the two rivals had quarterly sales of 74.8 million and 73 million smartphones respectively. Apple's 20.4% market share was also marginally higher than Samsung's 19.9% share during the three-month period ending December."With Apple dominating the premium phone market and the Chinese vendors increasingly offering quality hardware at lower prices, it is through a solid ecosystem of apps, content and services unique to Samsung devices that Samsung can secure more loyalty and longer-term differentiation at the high end of the market," said Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner.Strategy Analytics reported in January that Apple and...

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in a San Jose, California courtroom on Monday raised no objections about a $415 million settlement that would end an ongoing anti-poaching class-action lawsuit involving Apple, Google and other large tech companies. Koh rejected a previous $324.5 million settlement last August after one of the plaintiffs in the case objected because the deal was too low, according to Reuters.

Tech workers filed the antitrust class-action lawsuit in 2011 against Apple, Google, Adobe and Intel, alleging that the four companies reached anti-poaching agreements that resulted in less job mobility and lower salaries. Apple and Google were accused of signing one of the earliest wage...

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 52 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover a single granted patent relating to a new magnetic antenna mounting system that could one day bring cellular connectivity to the iMac and ...

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 52 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover a granted patent for a robotic arm system for testing iPhones.

Monday March 2

Apple has launched a worldwide "Shot on iPhone 6" advertising campaign involving 77 photographers, 70 cities and 24 countries, with iPhone 6 photography to be featured in magazines, newspapers, billboards, transit posters and more. The large-scale marketing initiative has started rolling out in several countries across the world this week, including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Thailand, Malaysia, Tokyo and United Arab Emirates.

"Shot on iPhone 6" photo on billboard in Los Angeles (via Twitter) A number of "Shot on iPhone 6" advertisements have begun surfacing on Twitter and Instagram over the past few days, with spots appearing on the back cover of The New Yorker magazine, horizontal posters in London's Euston Square...

There's a new Steve Jobs book set to be published later this month, penned by Brent Schlender, a reporter who interviewed Jobs several times throughout his life and became close to him, and Rick Tetzeli, Executive Editor at Fast Company. Called Becoming Steve Jobs, the book aims to go beyond existing myths and stereotypes about Jobs, giving a look at a man who was only human, who "wrestled with his failings and learned to maximize his strength over time."

The book explores the story of how Steve Jobs made the transformation from an arrogant young man exiled from Apple to the visionary leader that skyrocketed Apple to fame. Schlender and Tetzeli interviewed many of Steve Jobs' friends, family, and inner circle, to get access to never-before-told stories. Tim Cook, Jony Ive, Eddy Cue, Ed Catmull, John Lasseter, and Robert Iger all contributed to the book. It also draws on the experiences Schlender had with Jobs in interviews across many years.Schlender and Tetzeli...

In November 17, 2014 "IBM's First Wave of MobileFirst iOS Solutions Rolled out to Market." One of the initial industries targeted in Apple's press release was travel and transportation. Apple highlighted two specific apps for the airlines industry that were titled "Plan Flight" and "Passenger +. Earlier today Apple released ...

Apple today made a pre-release version of OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 available to those who are signed up for the company's OS X public beta program, giving them early access to the new update and the new Photos for OS X app.

The public beta carries a build number of 14D87p, a slightly later build number than the 14D87h from the second developer beta of the software, released last week.

All registered public beta test members should be able to download OS X Yosemite through the Mac App Store.

OS X 10.10.3 includes access to the new Photos app, which is designed to serve as a replacement for Aperture and iPhoto. Early reviews have suggested the new software improves upon iPhoto, but leaves out many power features Aperture users have become accustomed to.

NXP Semiconductors and Freescale Semiconductor today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which NXP will merge with Freescale in a transaction which values the combined enterprise at just over $40 billion. One of NXP’s largest customers is Apple ...

During Apple's Financial Conference Call in January, Apple's CEO stated that "The IBM Partnership is strong. In December the Alliance delivered the first 10 applications. Another 12 apps will be released this quarter ...

With Apple Pay crushing the Google Wallet by a country mile and Samsung announcing that their Galaxy S6 smartphones will use their newly acquired LoopPay, Google was feeling a little out of the loop. Earlier today at the Mobile World Congress tradeshow, Google's Sundar Pichai,...

Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly said at the company's flagship Apple Store in Berlin that the Apple Watch launch in April will not be limited to the United States, according to retail employees in attendance that spoke with 9to5Mac.

Cook specifically confirmed that the Apple Watch will launch in Germany during the month of April, indicating that a wider international launch in other countries could be on the horizon. MacRumors previously reported that Apple is targeting an early April release date for the Apple Watch based on a source that has proved reliable.

The report corroborates that the Apple Watch may be released in the United States in early April, followed by Germany and other countries...

In October we posted a report titled "Indian Firm iVoice Enterprises Challenges "iPhone" Trademark," which provides the full background of iVoice attempting to have Apple's iPhone trademark revoked because of their "IFon" trademark. Today the firm is back in the news stating that they're continuing their battle against the validity of Apple's iPhone trademark in India.

Apple Watch continues to make its international debut in magazines worldwide with a new cover appearance and multi-page spread in Hong Kong street fashion and lifestyle magazine East Touch this month. The latest March issue of the Chinese-language magazine features the Apple Watch and Apple Watch Sport being worn by several models in various lifestyle shots.

In the past few months, the Apple Watch has made magazine debuts in a range of other publications such as on the cover of Self magazine, ...

Sunday March 1

Apple has refreshed its homepage to showcase a gallery of photos taken with iPhone 6 across the world, unsurprisingly coinciding with today's announcements of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and HTC One M9 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The gallery shows photos taken by iPhone 6 users in several countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan, Iceland, South Korea, China, Scotland, Indonesia, Thailand and New Zealand.

Some of the photos have been filtered, enhanced or shared with apps such as Instagram, Snapseed, VSCO Cam, Mextures, Filterstorm Neue, Camera+ and Adobe Photoshop Express. "People take incredible photos and videos on iPhone 6 every day," writes Apple. "And here are some of our favorites. Explore the gallery, learn a few tips, and see what’s possible with...

Samsung at Mobile World Congress on Sunday announced its latest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, each compatible with a new mobile payments service called Samsung Pay. The smartphones are a significant refresh to the Galaxy lineup, featuring a slimmer and lighter metal and glass curved design, all-new front and rear cameras, improved hardware specifications under the hood and more.

Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge (via The Verge) The Galaxy S6 Edge is notable in that it is the first smartphone to feature a curved display on both sides of the device, constructed from Gorilla Glass 4. Both smartphones have 16-megapixel rear-facing cameras and 5-megapixel front-facing cameras with f/1.9 lenses for improved low-light photos, Auto HDR, optical image stabilization, IR white balance and a "Quick Launch" feature for accessing the camera from any...

Documentation Scanner

Monday March 2

As promised in our blog post on the evolution of SharePoint a few weeks ago, this morning we released the complete list of SharePoint-related sessions that will be offered at Microsoft Ignite in Chicago, IL, May 4-8 2015. Ignite is the premier Microsoft event for IT pros, and the only one that brings the vast community of people who work with SharePoint every day together with the people at Microsoft who build SharePoint. Be there as we lift the curtain on SharePoint 2016, announce new Office 365 innovations...

Over the last three webcasts, Brad Anderson, corporate vice president for Enterprise Mobility, has discussed how companies can successfully (and cost effectively) manage all devices in their infrastructure. It’s a topic he’s written about at length and on Tuesday March 3, at 10:30 a.m. PST, he’ll conclude this webcast series with a look at two things only Microsoft can offer—self-protecting files and hybrid identity management.

Join us this Tuesday, March 3rd at 9 a.m. PST/12 p.m. EST for a webcast designed to help turn you into a Visio power user. We will explore advanced diagramming concepts such as layers, hyperlinks and custom templates. Then we will demonstrate one of the key capabilities of Visio—linking data to diagrams—and how to get insights from data linked diagrams and shapes. You will also learn how to interface Visio 2013 with the entire stack of Microsoft technologies and applications including Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, SharePoint and Project

These tools and techniques will dramatically increase your productivity and diagraming efficiency—turning Visio generalists into Visio power users.

Sunday March 1

Download the Mac server from the MusicIOapp.com web site. We hope to have this available through the Mac App Store shortly.----Send and receive MIDI between your Mac and your iOS device via USB. It's simple, reliable, and near-zero latency.

THREE TEAMSMusic IO is a joint effort by three of the most respected iOS music app development teams. Confusion Studios makes MIDI Designer Pro, the most-respected MIDI controller platform for iOS. MIDI Designer is adored by users, loved by Music Industry press, and trusted on stages and in studios around the World. Audeonic Apps makes the pioneering MidiBridge app, an essential tool for routing and filtering MIDI messages on iOS; they also provide the MidiBus software library, which powers...

With midimux, you are no longer forced to rely on wifi-packets or external hardware to communicate MIDI data between a Mac and an iOS Device.It seamlessly integrates your iPad/iPhone into your studio. worry-free, reliable and at an ultra low-latency.And it works with all apps that speak MIDI.

midimux lets you..

- control iOS apps with hardware controllers that are connected to your Mac.- sequence and play iOS apps using a DAW running on your Mac.- control Mac applications or hardware connected to it, using Lemur, TouchOSC or any other app that uses MIDI.- use iOS apps to play and sequence hardware instruments that are connected to your Mac...

Friday February 27

Religion Simulator is a unique strategy game. It gives you an opportunity to build your own religion and decide about its structure and philosophy.

The game consists of two elements:

1. THE GLOBE - You develop your religion on the globe, where you need to take over tiles by adding expansions, temples and other buildings. The more tiles belong to your religion, the more gold you receive and your religion becomes stronger. When making decisions you need to take into account various aspects like population, education and wealth. There are other religions on the globe and your goal is to dominate the world! You can also use various weapons like bombs and thunderstorms to destroy your opponents, but the most important strategy is to give the right directions...

The number of detected cyberattacks in 2014 almost doubled from the year before, leaving many organizations with significant financial losses and elevating cybersecurity from a server room issue to a boardroom issue. With ever-evolving cyber threats, businesses need to know how to develop strategies to address their vulnerabilities and keep their data accessible, yet safe, in today’s digital world.

Register now to watch Modern Workplace live on March 3rd and hear directly from cybersecurity experts about what you can do to protect your organization from a hacker’s touch. Plus, find out how the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit is using Office 365 tools in their work with global law enforcement agencies to monitor, analyze and fight cybercrime.

Office Mix was originally created to help educators implement new teaching methods, using the simplicity of PowerPoint. Today, we’re proud to announce that Office Mix brings the same benefits to the professional e-Learning community, with support for SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model), the industry standard for packaging of digital learning content.

Superpowers for PowerPoint

Office Mix enables you to create interactive online videos using PowerPoint. With Office Mix, you can use PowerPoint to record audio or video using a webcam and microphone, and add digital ink to your slides. You can also embed assessments, polls, interactive simulations and online videos to your mix to increase engagement and assess comprehension by your audience.

Thursday February 26

Battle your friends for aerial supremacy in Rocket Joust! Jump in with up to 4 human or AI competitors on the one device, in a wild contest to knock each other from the sky. Play across multiple levels and modes, using a host of quirky characters, and show your friends who the best jouster is!

FEATURES+ Fun and addictive multiplayer rocket-jousting!+ Simple one-button gameplay supporting up to 4 players on a single device+ Three fun modes: Free For All, Team Joust, and King Mode+ Five uniquely awesome characters+ Whacky ragdoll physics+ Multiple levels to joust in+ Crazy powerups shake up the competition+ Optional CPU players to join the battle when you need them+ Game Center achievements to unlock

Years of intergalactic struggle, planetary annihilation and constant privateering have left space a ghastly mess. It is your destiny to pilot the “Photon” through an array of space junk, left over planet debris and all sorts of wonders from the intergalactic fun, of which you will not be a part.

Good luck out there – I hear there are many other pilots looking to find the odd bit of hidden loot to upgrade their measly ships.

Experience visual bliss that will take your emotions to multiple states, from joy to frustration within a split second.

A hypnotic avoidance game where your reaction and reflex skills will be tested to the limit. Avoid sequences of rotating obstacles while experiencing stunningly beautiful scenarios and gameplay. A total thrill and rush of multiple energies at once.

Can you handle it MATE?

Minimalistic touch controls, pick up and play instantly. How far can you go? Let’s do this!

In case you haven’t visited OneNoteforTeachers.com yet, we encourage you to do so and see how this new site, developed exclusively for educators, is helping new OneNote users become “OneNote Ninjas” without any cost to them or their school—in about an hour. Since launching this training-focused website, we have heard feedback from global educators about the need to have the guides in their own native language.

So due to popular demand from our worldwide teachers, we have now translated the 10 interactive guides on found on OneNoteForTeachers.com into 5 common languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, French and German. We hope this will help you become a better user of OneNote in the classroom...

Today’s post was written by Thomas Nhan, program manager on the Excel team.

The recent news that the Rosetta spacecraft made the closest approach ever to the Comet 67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko (Comet 67P), inspired the Excel Power Map team. Rosetta was launched on March 2, 2004 to reach Comet 67P by following the Comet’s path from the outer edge back to Sun. And although Power Map is widely used to map Earth-bound geographical data, we used the custom map feature to plot the trajectory of Earth, Mars, Comet 67P and Rosetta, by visualizing their paths through time (well, since 2004). And then we created a video of Rosetta probe’s rendezvous with Comet 67P:

Our first step was to use Power Query to download the NASA orbital data, along with velocity vector at each location, into Excel.

The history of medieval Europe is rich in bloody wars and conflicts. The Norman invasion, the Crusades, the Hundred Years' War, the Reconquista, the Wars of the Roses, the Albigensian Crusade and endless peasant riots… A new game in the Strategy & Tactics series gives you an opportunity to try your strength in confrontations between the most ruthless conquerors.

In Medieval Wars: Strategy & Tactics you are to lead the armies of England and France as well as the armies of crusaders in three campaigns and try to win the biggest wars and battles of European medieval history. Scenario maps will let you take part in Russian feuds, stop the Saracens under the flag of Charles the Great and lead The Hussites....

Unveil the world of Echo Dawn, a classic console-style RPG where discovery, strategy and challenge are at your fingertips. Fully customize your party, stats, and difficulty level. Oh and in the process you’ll save the world and be a hero of LEGENDARY proportions. Ninja included!

Features: • Deep, tactical gameplay ⁃ With hundreds of abilities and items, you choose what works best for your party. ⁃ Each level, you decide 3 of the 6 stats you want to improve for each character. ⁃ Play defensively with heavy armor equipment and place your characters in the back row. ⁃ Or you can decide to be aggressive and dual wield with your characters in the front row for maximum damage.

Documentation Scanner

Monday March 2

As promised in our blog post on the evolution of SharePoint a few weeks ago, this morning we released the complete list of SharePoint-related sessions that will be offered at Microsoft Ignite in Chicago, IL, May 4-8 2015. Ignite is the premier Microsoft event for IT pros, and the only one that brings the vast community of people who work with SharePoint every day together with the people at Microsoft who build SharePoint. Be there as we lift the curtain on SharePoint 2016, announce new Office 365 innovations...

Over the last three webcasts, Brad Anderson, corporate vice president for Enterprise Mobility, has discussed how companies can successfully (and cost effectively) manage all devices in their infrastructure. It’s a topic he’s written about at length and on Tuesday March 3, at 10:30 a.m. PST, he’ll conclude this webcast series with a look at two things only Microsoft can offer—self-protecting files and hybrid identity management.

Join us this Tuesday, March 3rd at 9 a.m. PST/12 p.m. EST for a webcast designed to help turn you into a Visio power user. We will explore advanced diagramming concepts such as layers, hyperlinks and custom templates. Then we will demonstrate one of the key capabilities of Visio—linking data to diagrams—and how to get insights from data linked diagrams and shapes. You will also learn how to interface Visio 2013 with the entire stack of Microsoft technologies and applications including Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, SharePoint and Project

These tools and techniques will dramatically increase your productivity and diagraming efficiency—turning Visio generalists into Visio power users.

Sunday March 1

Download the Mac server from the MusicIOapp.com web site. We hope to have this available through the Mac App Store shortly.----Send and receive MIDI between your Mac and your iOS device via USB. It's simple, reliable, and near-zero latency.

THREE TEAMSMusic IO is a joint effort by three of the most respected iOS music app development teams. Confusion Studios makes MIDI Designer Pro, the most-respected MIDI controller platform for iOS. MIDI Designer is adored by users, loved by Music Industry press, and trusted on stages and in studios around the World. Audeonic Apps makes the pioneering MidiBridge app, an essential tool for routing and filtering MIDI messages on iOS; they also provide the MidiBus software library, which powers...

With midimux, you are no longer forced to rely on wifi-packets or external hardware to communicate MIDI data between a Mac and an iOS Device.It seamlessly integrates your iPad/iPhone into your studio. worry-free, reliable and at an ultra low-latency.And it works with all apps that speak MIDI.

midimux lets you..

- control iOS apps with hardware controllers that are connected to your Mac.- sequence and play iOS apps using a DAW running on your Mac.- control Mac applications or hardware connected to it, using Lemur, TouchOSC or any other app that uses MIDI.- use iOS apps to play and sequence hardware instruments that are connected to your Mac...

Friday February 27

Religion Simulator is a unique strategy game. It gives you an opportunity to build your own religion and decide about its structure and philosophy.

The game consists of two elements:

1. THE GLOBE - You develop your religion on the globe, where you need to take over tiles by adding expansions, temples and other buildings. The more tiles belong to your religion, the more gold you receive and your religion becomes stronger. When making decisions you need to take into account various aspects like population, education and wealth. There are other religions on the globe and your goal is to dominate the world! You can also use various weapons like bombs and thunderstorms to destroy your opponents, but the most important strategy is to give the right directions...

The number of detected cyberattacks in 2014 almost doubled from the year before, leaving many organizations with significant financial losses and elevating cybersecurity from a server room issue to a boardroom issue. With ever-evolving cyber threats, businesses need to know how to develop strategies to address their vulnerabilities and keep their data accessible, yet safe, in today’s digital world.

Register now to watch Modern Workplace live on March 3rd and hear directly from cybersecurity experts about what you can do to protect your organization from a hacker’s touch. Plus, find out how the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit is using Office 365 tools in their work with global law enforcement agencies to monitor, analyze and fight cybercrime.

Office Mix was originally created to help educators implement new teaching methods, using the simplicity of PowerPoint. Today, we’re proud to announce that Office Mix brings the same benefits to the professional e-Learning community, with support for SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model), the industry standard for packaging of digital learning content.

Superpowers for PowerPoint

Office Mix enables you to create interactive online videos using PowerPoint. With Office Mix, you can use PowerPoint to record audio or video using a webcam and microphone, and add digital ink to your slides. You can also embed assessments, polls, interactive simulations and online videos to your mix to increase engagement and assess comprehension by your audience.

Thursday February 26

Battle your friends for aerial supremacy in Rocket Joust! Jump in with up to 4 human or AI competitors on the one device, in a wild contest to knock each other from the sky. Play across multiple levels and modes, using a host of quirky characters, and show your friends who the best jouster is!

FEATURES+ Fun and addictive multiplayer rocket-jousting!+ Simple one-button gameplay supporting up to 4 players on a single device+ Three fun modes: Free For All, Team Joust, and King Mode+ Five uniquely awesome characters+ Whacky ragdoll physics+ Multiple levels to joust in+ Crazy powerups shake up the competition+ Optional CPU players to join the battle when you need them+ Game Center achievements to unlock

Years of intergalactic struggle, planetary annihilation and constant privateering have left space a ghastly mess. It is your destiny to pilot the “Photon” through an array of space junk, left over planet debris and all sorts of wonders from the intergalactic fun, of which you will not be a part.

Good luck out there – I hear there are many other pilots looking to find the odd bit of hidden loot to upgrade their measly ships.

Experience visual bliss that will take your emotions to multiple states, from joy to frustration within a split second.

A hypnotic avoidance game where your reaction and reflex skills will be tested to the limit. Avoid sequences of rotating obstacles while experiencing stunningly beautiful scenarios and gameplay. A total thrill and rush of multiple energies at once.

Can you handle it MATE?

Minimalistic touch controls, pick up and play instantly. How far can you go? Let’s do this!

In case you haven’t visited OneNoteforTeachers.com yet, we encourage you to do so and see how this new site, developed exclusively for educators, is helping new OneNote users become “OneNote Ninjas” without any cost to them or their school—in about an hour. Since launching this training-focused website, we have heard feedback from global educators about the need to have the guides in their own native language.

So due to popular demand from our worldwide teachers, we have now translated the 10 interactive guides on found on OneNoteForTeachers.com into 5 common languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, French and German. We hope this will help you become a better user of OneNote in the classroom...

Today’s post was written by Thomas Nhan, program manager on the Excel team.

The recent news that the Rosetta spacecraft made the closest approach ever to the Comet 67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko (Comet 67P), inspired the Excel Power Map team. Rosetta was launched on March 2, 2004 to reach Comet 67P by following the Comet’s path from the outer edge back to Sun. And although Power Map is widely used to map Earth-bound geographical data, we used the custom map feature to plot the trajectory of Earth, Mars, Comet 67P and Rosetta, by visualizing their paths through time (well, since 2004). And then we created a video of Rosetta probe’s rendezvous with Comet 67P:

Our first step was to use Power Query to download the NASA orbital data, along with velocity vector at each location, into Excel.

The history of medieval Europe is rich in bloody wars and conflicts. The Norman invasion, the Crusades, the Hundred Years' War, the Reconquista, the Wars of the Roses, the Albigensian Crusade and endless peasant riots… A new game in the Strategy & Tactics series gives you an opportunity to try your strength in confrontations between the most ruthless conquerors.

In Medieval Wars: Strategy & Tactics you are to lead the armies of England and France as well as the armies of crusaders in three campaigns and try to win the biggest wars and battles of European medieval history. Scenario maps will let you take part in Russian feuds, stop the Saracens under the flag of Charles the Great and lead The Hussites....

Unveil the world of Echo Dawn, a classic console-style RPG where discovery, strategy and challenge are at your fingertips. Fully customize your party, stats, and difficulty level. Oh and in the process you’ll save the world and be a hero of LEGENDARY proportions. Ninja included!

Features: • Deep, tactical gameplay ⁃ With hundreds of abilities and items, you choose what works best for your party. ⁃ Each level, you decide 3 of the 6 stats you want to improve for each character. ⁃ Play defensively with heavy armor equipment and place your characters in the back row. ⁃ Or you can decide to be aggressive and dual wield with your characters in the front row for maximum damage.

Technology Showcase

Sep 17

Video showcases iOS app built with Xojo

Xojo Inc., the company formerly known as Real Software, has posted a video of an iOS app that was built with Xojo. Xojo is an object-oriented, cross-platform software development tool that enables developers to create software for OS X, Windows, Linux, the web and mobile.

The video showcases all the native controls and gives an overview of Xojo's support for building iOS apps. Building native iOS apps with Xojo is the same as building a web or desktop app as you do today. You can view the video at http://tinyurl.com/nvexpk7 .

Developers can use the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) of Xojo for free, and will only need to purchase a license once they want to build a distributable version of their application. Licenses are purchased per target platform, including Web, Desktop, Database, Console, and Xojo Pro, which is a bundle license that includes all deployment licenses plus an added...

This Friday, Feb. 15, a 180,000-ton asteroid with the thrilling name of "2012 DA14" will fly past the Earth. Don't worry, we're not talking a "Deep Impact" scenario. Which is good, right? And you can follow the asteroid using Apple devices.

The 50-meter space rock will come within 17,200 miles of earth -- that's closer than our orbiting geosynchronous communication satellites. Although we don't have to worry about a collision, the passage of 2012 DA14 is a record close approach to the Earth for an object of this size.

Southern Stars has released update to its SkySafari Plus and Pro apps for iOS, Mac OS X, and Android to let you track 2012 DA14. If you want to track the asteroid you'll want the updated apps. Why? Because the Earth's gravity affects the asteroid's orbit so severely, most desktop planetarium programs -- and all other mobile apps -- will completely fail to predict the asteroid's position correctly, says Southern Stars founder Tim DeBenedictis.

Apple's Fusion Drive Apple is available as a build-to-order option for the 21.5-inch, 2.7GHz 21.5-inch iMac model. Previously, it was only offered for the high-end 21.5-inchers and the 27-inch iMac.

Apple says the Fusion Drive gives customers the performance of flash storage and the capacity of a hard drive. It combines 128GB of flash with a standard 1TB or 3TB hard drive to create a single storage volume that intelligently manages files to optimize read and write performance. Apple says the Fusion Drive adapts to the way you use your iMac and automatically moves the files and apps you use most often to flash storage to enable faster performance and quicker access.

Satechi (http://www.Satechi.net) has released the Divoom iBase Dock Station for the iPod, iPhone or iPad. The US$44.99 device combines a speaker system and docking station.

The Satechi Divoom iBase Dock Station features four full range neodymium dynamic drivers and a 20.6 ounce speaker. Additionally, it has a vertical support to ensure the iOS device is secured in place. The Satechi Divoom iBase Dock Station is also compatible with other MP3 players via the 3.5mm line-in jack.

Appcelerator has published a white paper on "4 Steps to creating a mobile development strategy."

"Companies now have a window of opportunity to think about how mobile can transform their business as radically as the web did," says AppCelerator. "By making mobile a part of their overall digital strategy, companies can transform their relationships with their customers in even greater ways than they did with the web."

The white paper tells you how this can be accomplished. Appcelerator (http://www.appcelerator.com/) is a company that helps web developers create mobile, tablet and desktop applications.

InterMapper is Mac OS X compatible network monitoring software. It uses SNMP to monitor the network infrastructure, and has probes for monitoring many kinds of servers, including web, mail, LDAP, FTP, etc. More information and a free 30-day demo are available at the product Web site (...

In June of 2010, the Data Rescue Center and Prosoft Engineering finalized the purchase of a building in Livermore near the Lawrence Livermore National Lab. Work immediately began on the design and construction of the new recovery lab facility.

In late January of 2011, both The Data Rescue Center and Prosoft Engineering moved all operations to this new facility. It boasts a Class 2 UL-Listed Vault and extensive security features.

Zco Corp. (http://www.zco.com) has posted an overview video for their technology showcase. You can view it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzE89z-jexA .

Zco can help you build custom software, as well as market it. The company developsb oth industrial strength backend applications using .NET, PHP and Java as well as apps for all major mobile platforms, including the iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone 7, WebOS and Symbian.

A new online video (http://www.memoryminer.com) shows some of the best ways for using MemoryMiner, a digital storytelling application for Mac OS X. Designed an an complement the iLife suite, the software is all about capturing and exploring your life memories.

MemoryMiner allows anyone to zero in on the stories depicted in their photos by linking them to each other based on people, places and time. While photos are used as the starting point, the goal is always uncovering the backstory.

With MemoryMiner, you can directly record audio or video to capture the backstory of a photo. You can attach documents, web URL's, or other media to add depth and context. Each photo becomes a frame in a storyboard that can be browsed by periods in a person's life, where people overlap, by place, by time, or any combination.

PCalc is a full-featured, scriptable scientific calculator with support for hexadecimal, octal, and binary calculations, as well as an RPN mode, programmable functions, and an extensive set of unit... Read more

FileZilla 3.10.2 - Fast and reliable FTP...

FileZilla (ported from Windows) is a fast and reliable FTP client and server with lots of useful features and an intuitive interface.
Version 3.10.2:
Note: Now requires a 64-bit Intel processor.... Read more

The Hit List 1.1.11 - Advanced reminder...

The Hit List manages the daily chaos of your modern life. It's easy to learn - it's as easy as making lists. And it's powerful enough to let you plan, then forget, then act when the time is right.... Read more

Bartender 1.2.32 - Organize your menu ba...

Bartender lets you organize your menu bar apps.
Features:
Lets you tidy your menu bar apps how you want.
See your menu bar apps when you want.
Hide the apps you need to run, but do not need to... Read more

ClamXav 2.7.5 - Free virus checker, base...

ClamXav is a free virus checker for OS X. It uses the tried, tested, and very popular ClamAV open source antivirus engine as a back end.
I hope you like and use ClamXav a lot and that it helps keep... Read more

xScope 4.1.2 - Onscreen graphic measurem...

xScope is powerful set of tools that are ideal for measuring, inspecting, and testing on-screen graphics and layouts. Its tools float above your desktop windows and can be accessed via a toolbar,... Read more

MacFamilyTree 7.3.3 - Create and explore...

MacFamilyTree gives genealogy a facelift: it's modern, interactive, incredibly fast, and easy to use. We're convinced that generations of chroniclers would have loved to trade in their genealogy... Read more

Skype 7.5.0.738 - Voice-over-internet ph...

Skype allows you to talk to friends, family and co-workers across the Internet without the inconvenience of long distance telephone charges. Using peer-to-peer data transmission technology, Skype... Read more

PushPal 3.0 - Mirror Android notificatio...

PushPal is a client for Pushbullet, which automatically shows you all of your phone's notifications right on your computer. This means you can see who's calling or read text messages even if your... Read more

At this point it’s pretty safe to say that no MOBA is going to dethrone Dota 2 and League of Legends anytime soon. After all, if Batman can’t do it, nobody can. However, with a genre as popular and profitable as this one, there’s still room for... | Read more »

Final February Fun at 148Apps
How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you’re looking for. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out... | Read more »

GDC 2015 – Does Not Commute is Definitel...

GDC 2015 – Does Not Commute is Definitely a Game You Should Keep an Eye on
Posted by Rob Rich on March 2nd, 2015 [ permalink ]
We were teased about Mediocre Games’ (Smash Hit,
| Read more »

F84 Games & POW! Announce Stan Lee V...

F84 Games has announced that it is working with legendary comic creator Stan Lee and POW! Entertainment to produce Stan Lee’s Hero Command. The game will be a action adventure of heroic proportions.
| Read more »

Setlyst Keeps Your Set Straight So You C...

Setlyst Keeps Your Set Straight So You Can Focus On Rocking Out.
Posted by Jessica Fisher on March 2nd, 2015 [ permalink ]
Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
| Read more »

Space is Vast, So Space Agency Has a Vas...

Space is Vast, So Space Agency Has a Vast New Update!
Posted by Jessica Fisher on March 2nd, 2015 [ permalink ]
Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
| Read more »

Size DOES Matter Review

Size DOES Matter Review
By Campbell Bird on March 2nd, 2015
Our Rating: :: HARD TO BEATUniversal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
This rhythm game has a unique control scheme and performance system that make it feel like a true... | Read more »

The first ever action 3D card battler Al...

On the other hand, you probably haven’t played an action 3D card battler – until now. Step forward, All Star Legion.
All Star Legion is a 3D QTE-based action RPG card battler, but fear not – the game itself isn’t as convoluted as its description.... | Read more »

Travel Back to the 1980s With the Making...

Headup Games has released a hilarious making of video for its upcoming title, Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic. The game is a RPG/Roguelike where you control three heroes set to save the township of Pixton from an evil cult called The Sons of Dawn.... | Read more »

Price Scanner via MacPrices.net

Sale! 15-inch 2.2GHz Retina MacBook Pro for $...

Best Buy has the 15″ 2.2GHz Retina MacBook Pro on sale for $1774.99 $1799.99, or $225 off MSRP. Choose free home shipping or free local store pickup (if available). Price valid for online orders... Read more

27-inch 3.5GHz 5K iMac in stock today and on...

B&H Photo has the 27″ 3.5GHz 5K iMac in stock today and on sale for $2299 including free shipping plus NY sales tax only. Their price is $200 off MSRP, and it’s the lowest price available for... Read more

Apple Launches Free Web-Based Pages and Other...

Apple’s new Web-only access to iWork productivity apps is a free level of iCloud service available to anyone, including people who don’t own or use Apple devices. The service includes access to Apple... Read more

Survey Reveals Solid State Disk (SSD) Technol...

In a recent SSD technology use survey, Kroll Ontrack, a firm specializing in data recovery, found that while nearly 90 percent of respondents leverage the performance and reliability benefits of SSD... Read more

Save up to $600 with Apple refurbished Mac Pr...

The Apple Store is offering Apple Certified Refurbished Mac Pros for up to $600 off the cost of new models. An Apple one-year warranty is included with each Mac Pro, and shipping is free. The... Read more

Apple CEO Tim Cook will deliver the George Washington University’s Commencement address to GWU grads on May 17, at which time he will also be awarded an honorary doctorate of public service from the... Read more

Apple restocks refurbished Mac minis for up t...

The Apple Store has restocked Apple Certified Refurbished 2014 Mac minis, with models available starting at $419. Apple’s one-year warranty is included with each mini, and shipping is free:
- 1.4GHz... Read more

Walmart has the 16GB iPad Air 2 WiFi on sale for $446.99 on their online store for a limited time. Choose free shipping or free local store pickup (if available). Sale price for online orders only,... Read more

Jobs Board

*Apple* Solutions Consultant - Retail Sales...

**Job Summary** As an Apple Solutions Consultant (ASC) you are the link between our customers and our products. Your role is to drive the Apple business in a retail
Read more

*Apple* Pay Automation Engineer - iOS System...

**Job Summary** At Apple , great ideas have a way of becoming great products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. Bring passion and dedication to your job
Read more

Sr. Technical Services Consultant, *Apple*...

**Job Summary** Apple Professional Services (APS) has an opening for a senior technical position that contributes to Apple 's efforts for strategic and transactional
Read more

Event Director, *Apple* Retail Marketing -...

…This senior level position is responsible for leading and imagining the Apple Retail Team's global engagement strategy and team. Delivering an overarching brand
Read more

*Apple* Pay - Site Reliability Engineer - Ap...

**Job Summary** Imagine what you could do here. At Apple , great ideas have a way of becoming great products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. Bring
Read more

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